Devvarman Victorious in US Open Debut

Devvarman Victorious in US Open Debut

Courtesy: Virginia Athletics

FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. -- Former Cavalier and ITA All-American Somdev Devvarman made a triumphant debut at the US Open Monday, defeating Frederico Gil of Portugal 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in a first round match at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The victory came in Devvarman's first grand slam main draw match.

Devvarman, the first Virginia player to play in the US Open since Brian Vahaly in 2003, reached the main draw by winning three qualifying matches last week. Ranked No. 161, he took the first set 6-3 against No. 106 Gil by breaking him twice. In the second set, Devvarman fell behind a break 3-1 before rallying to take it 6-4 for a two-sets-to-none lead. Devvarman fell behind a break in the third set as well, at 3-2, but broke back in the next game and won the final four games of the match to close out the win.

The match was not the first time the two players had met in New York. In 2003, Devvarman and Gil met in the first round of the US Open Junior Championships, with Gil posting a 6-7, 7-6, 7-5 win.

Devvarman will play No. 23 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in the second round. Kohlschreiber defeated Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-0, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round.

Later in the week, current Cavalier Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) will begin play in doubles at the US Open. Shabaz is teamming with world No. 86 Wayne Odesnik at the Open, after the duo received a wild card. They meet rising American stars John Isner and Sam Querrey in the first round.